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Sunday, April 30, 2017

I Need a Bike
Joseph Carlough
*note: permission to use direct quotes authorized by author*

14 Pages
Card-stock and Printer Paper
Size: Mini
$2.00 + Shipping

"I Need a Bike" is short story zine by Joseph Carlough that describes a brief period in the narrator's 14-year-old life where he is trying to paint a deck in order to get the bike of his dreams - a "Speedliner X-720, complete with 12 speeds, front and rear brakes, racing stripes and a bitching amount of pride."

The zine is simple in design - card-stock front with white pages, all printed with story.

In the story, the main character is set on getting his dream bike. In the span of 14 pages, you are introduced to several characters - the narrator, his best friend, his best friend's mother, and his best friend's mother's ex-husband. While the last of these is never really presented in any direct contact with the main character, it is still a vital point in the story.
Needless to say, this story was brilliant in its own little way. Reading through the story gave me a great nostalgia feeling with vibes of A CHRISTMAS STORY to even hints of J.D. Salinger wit. And, by the end, it had me gasping for air and on the verge of tears, I have to admit.

Speaking of the end, the conclusion to this short story perfectly completes it and is exactly what I like to see in a great ending, By the end of it, your heart is aching, yet it wraps up the story enough to where you're like "Okay...I understand." Ending it where it ends and not continuing to add information makes this short story what it is.

In critique, however, I would have definitely liked to have seen slightly more backstory as you are introduced to his best friend and her mother, but no story is perfect and some of the wit woven in saves it in this case. (One of my favourite lines, for example: "[Her] mom could make the president's jaw drop, and while it was dropped she could walk up and take his wallet and no one would do a damn hing about it."

In the end, this story brings on an emotional sense of looking back at when you were fourteen, the relationships you had with other people, and how quickly those relationships can come to an end. ~

Issue 2 follows the precedent set in the first issue by again removing
technology from the process of making the zine. The result is in keeping with
fanzines of the 80s - written on a typewriter, produced on a photocopier, cut
& paste, with facts less important than experience.

The contents of the zine are pieced together from a faulty and
sometimes very specific memory and a gig book Russell kept for 8 years, in
which he stuck tickets and documented every obscure support band. Like Issue 1
Russell’s enthusiasm for music energises each description, and it will have you
scrabbling to Spotify to rediscover bands you’ve forgotten or check out bands
you’ve never heard of.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

The concept behind this zine is simple – Russell sets out to
revisit albums that were loved in his teenage years, and not played since.

Russell’s enthusiasm for music is infectious. The zine
will have those that were there at the time – in the mid to late 1980s - scrabbling
to their shelves, storage units to dig out CDs and vinyl, or to eBay to re-buy
their past.

And those who aren't quite old enough to remember will discover
something new. It is a project born out of a love for the lost tangible joys of
record buying – bunking off school to be the first in line at the local record
shop on release day, the zines and community built through exchange and
bootlegs. But it is a zine that gains
from being able to listen to almost any album in minutes through the magic of
Spotify. Reading LFTWY had me compiling a list of albums and songs that sounded interesting and playing
them as a kind of soundtrack to the zine.

Lunchtime For The
Wild Youth is smartly executed - straddling the divide between youth and
adulthood by removing technology from the process. The zine was written on a
typewriter, produced on a photocopier, nothing fact checked using the internet.

The artwork, drawn by Russell's daughter Robyn is a
charming addition, and a reminder that music has a power that transcends
generations.

This is an infectious zine that
will have you itching to do the same with your own wild youth.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Seasons. is a small, folded zine on white printer paper with a small poem that is sure to set big ripples.

In Seasons., Sayward Barone describes in eight, small pages the feeling of when the seasons change. Looking at the poem on the surface is just that, but as you start to dig deeper, you find things that make you see the deeper meaning behind the words.

The one thing that really makes this little poem a success, in my book, is the self-application one can do with it. Mentioned in some of my previous reviews, I love to see a poem or work that not only applies to the writer's situation, but can apply to so many other people.

Seasons. manages to successfully describe feelings of suppression and feelings from the weather in a nice, pocket size package. While I wouldn't read this on a light heart, this is definitely one worth picking up.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

BEARQUEFT COMIX #1 is the first in a series being created by Charlie Haggard. Bound in an all orange, card-stock cover and printed on printer paper in black and white, this comedic zine takes you through several brief adventures involving originally created characters.

This comic zine has two main stories with several interludes.

The main stories - Planet Man and Slumcat - were both very comedic. The type of comedy Haggard is going at pairs extremely well with this almost grunge-type atmosphere. While I would sometimes consider the black and white printing a downfall in some comics, I felt it worked extremely well for this; in this case, it made it feel like reading the comics in the weekly newspaper (which is fantastic).

My favorite part about this comic are the interludes found in-between the larger comics. These little gems made for great breaks between the stories and made for an overall, well-rounded comic zine. The pokes at modern society and art-work made for great chuckles - which is usually a hit or miss with that subject. And the fake ads were golden

All in all, the ideas Haggard has going here work very well together, creating a balance that makes for a well-rounded zine. I'm very glad this little zine found its way to my doorstep. I'm very interested to see what Haggard has to offer next.

This comic zine, bound with string and printed on normal printer paper, gives you a brief guide on how to be abducted by aliens.

The artwork throughout is very "cute" - giving it a more child-like, non-serious vibe. The pictures are all in black and white, which accompany these silly steps to have your chances of being abducted by aliens supposedly higher. While the idea is really neat, I feel like having the pictures in color would have made for a lot better experience overall.

The writing and steps, I will admit, are very amusing, and I like how she plays on this idea. However, I feel that the ending was very abrupt and there could have been room for a lot more in terms of steps.

Needless to say, I know how hard it is to put zines together, and the fact that Becker has put the time and effort to give us a nice, sleek layout is a feat in itself.

In the end, it is an extremely cute idea, with extremely great artwork, that did have me snickering a little throughout.